Thousands of Tunisians joined the largest protest against President Kais Saied in years in the capital on Saturday (October 17), accusing him of undermining democracy and mishandling the economy in a growing challenge to his rule.

The demonstration, led by the major UGTT labor union and civil society groups, comes as Tunisia grapples with an economic crisis, worsening public services, recurring water and power cuts, and shortages of medicines and essential goods.

Saied seized broad powers in 2021 and 2022, dissolving parliament, dismissing dozens of judges and ruling by decree, moves that opponents described as a coup.

Rights groups say he has intensified a crackdown on civil society, journalists and opposition figures. Saied rejects those allegations, saying he is not a dictator, and has accused his opponents of engineering economic crises to fuel social unrest.

In a rare show of unity, opposition parties from across the political spectrum joined lawyers, doctors, journalists, unemployed people and civil society groups in marching along Habib Bourguiba Avenue, a focal point of the 2011 protests that helped trigger the Arab Spring uprisings.

The protest poses a significant challenge to Saied after years of divisions weakened the opposition's ability to mobilise large crowds.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

TUNIS, TUNISIA (OCTOBER 17, 2026)(REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS LED BY UGTT LABOUR UNION AND CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS MARCHING AND CHANTING (Arabic): "Jobs, freedom and national dignity"

2. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING, CHANTING SLOGANS

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) VICE PRESIDENT OF TUNISIAN ORGANIZATION FOR DEFENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS, JAMALEDDINE SEBAA, SAYING:

"A suffocating crisis on all levels, frankly speaking. Almost all rights today have been violated. The state is no longer fulfilling its duty to provide rights for Tunisian citizens, and that is what made us determined today to make the voice of the Tunisian people heard. Tunisia first, and the Tunisian people above all."

4. PROTESTERS MARCHING, CHANTING SLOGANS

5. PROTESTER HOLDING A SIGN READING (Arabic): "Healthcare is dying"

6. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS AND HOLDING SIGNS

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TUNISIAN PROTESTER, YASSINE GHARSELI, SAYING:

"Even if all people stay silent, let me be the last voice (defending freedom). I mean, I have tried silence before. I tried it, I lived my entire youth under tyranny and dictatorship. I consider the moment of the revolution to be the moment I was truly born. So, I see everything that has happened as an assault on my personal dreams, on my ambitions as a person who experienced freedom and is no longer willing to return to the square of authoritarianism. Therefore, even if I am the last remaining voice, I will defend my freedom."

8. PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS

9. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING, CHANTING SLOGANS

10. PROTESTER HOLDING A SIGN READING (Arabic): "O oppressed citizen, poverty has grown and hunger has increased"

11. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS AND HOLDING SIGNS

12. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING, CHANTING SLOGANS